An Original Prayer By Paul, The Apostle

This is the original prayer from the Bible by St Paul. I pray this prayer of blessing and prayer for strength for all of you who are here now on this page.

And if you can include me as you pray it, that too would be wonderful.

“For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,

That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;

That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith;

that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.”

(Ephesians 3:14-21, KJV esword)

My Adaptation Of The Prayer For Personal Use

A Prayer To Be Rooted In God’s Love

Dear God,

May my roots go down deep into the soil of your marvellous love

that I may know along with all the saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height of that love;

for Yours is the love that surpasseth knowledge and fills me with Your fullness.

Thank you.

Amen

This can also be adapted as a prayer of blessing for others to be rooted in God.)

Isn’t that wonderful? I pray to be rooted in God. I am rooted in God.

I feel like shouting Alleluia just typing it here now!

What do I love about this prayer?

Our roots go down deep

I love the way this bible quote refers to things of the earth and nature, as the Bible so often does.

I, like so many of you, find it easy to find God in nature.

And I find it easy to relate to the idea that if I am rooted in God, rooted in Love, I am able to withstand elements of my life that might otherwise cause me harm...

This for me is a real prayer for strength.

The source of strength of a plant is not restricted to what is visible - it has roots.

In the same way, my strength does not lie in my own limited idea of who I am - I have roots. I draw on an unseen source of nourishment and strength - God.

You can receive God’s Love in hard times

“May my roots go down deep into the soil of your marvellous love.”

As the Beatles sang: All you need is love....

I would add that it is only God’s love that meets every need. God's Love stays when the love of others has gone and self love is difficult to find.

Allowing yourself to receive God’s Love is the solution.

We can find it hard at times to believe that anyone can help us:We tell ourselves:Too much has happened. We have become too damaged. It is too late. We might tell ourselves we are too special to be helped. Special because we are too good or too complex. Or special because we are too bad – we have made too many mistakes.

Can I please tell you? You can be helped.

It doesn't matter how much has happened. It doesn't matter how damaged you seem to be. You are right on time. You are not too bad. You are not too good or too intelligent.

God's provision

The image of seeing yourself as rooted in God’s Love helps you to have hope that God can and will provide for your individual needs.

How? Because although two seeds may look the same on the outside, inside they are different, and they have the potential to become very different types of plant.

Does this difference mean they need different earth? No, it doesn’t. The same earth nurtures very different seeds.

You may not be getting enough love from yourself and the world around you. But God, Spirit, the Divine is a source of Love that never runs out.

A prayer for love is a prayer for strength.

To grow, all I need is love. To grow, all you need is Love. In an environment of love, growth is natural.

God's life in you

A seed is an amazing thing. It contains life. When placed in the earth the seeds break open, grow roots and shoot up on their journey of growth.

Other Bible Quotes On Roots And Foundation

There are so many Bible nature quotes which encourage us to reduce our dependence on external circumstances and become more dependent on God.

Here is another:

“And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” (Psalm 1:3, KJV esword)

Just as we prayed to be rooted in God before, now – in this Bible quote – we choose where to plant ourselves. We choose to plant ourselves next to the rivers of water – the river of God’s love. Our roots allow us to tap into this water even when the elements of life would otherwise destroy us.

And, of course, one of the most famous Bible quotes about being rooted in God refers to us as choosing the foundations of the building which is our life:

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.

But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”(Matthew 7:24-27, NIV)

My Journey To Put My Roots Into God's Love

In 1993, the walls of my life fell with a great crash: I lost my health, my emotional strength, my job and many important relationships. I became motivated to build my house on the rock of God’s love.

I had been rooted in the things of this world including my own self-image. These did not sustain me through a difficult time.

Instead they were dug up, and I became willing to be rooted in the good earth of God’s love.

One of the ways I did this was to pray this wonderful prayer of blessing and prayer for strength: “May my roots go down deep...”

What I receive is mine to give.A reminder then that I bless you (and you bless me by reading this:

May your roots also go down deep into the soil of God’s marvellous love.